You’re obviously correct about Hannibal and Rome. But it is tough to pick out a battle to explain why he never took Rome. Dertosa, maybe? Or perhaps Baecula. If Hannibal’s loser brother Hasdrubal had been able to win either battle, he could have reinforced his brother in Italy and things might have turned out differently.
Totally agree. Hannibal was really on a one man rampage. The senate in Carthage never really approved of Hannibal’s vendetta and actions and all of their power really lied in Spain. At the point Scipio Africanus took the fight to Spain Hannibal was cut off. He had no choice but to get out of Dodge. He thought he could peel off the Samnites and the tribes in the south to come to his side. Didn’t work out. He ended up getting on a boat and skadoodling out of Croton.